Post #37

The American Bar Association Commission on Women in the Profession put out a report called Charting Our Progress.

The report shows that in a decade, from 1994 to 2003, the number of women in law school rose from 45% to 50%. The report also reflects an increase in the number of women in the profession in general too with the number of women lawyers having grown by 29.1%. The number of women partners rose from 12% to 16%. In the Court of Appeals, the composition of women rose from 13% to 17%, and in the Districts Courts female representation rose from 12% to 16%.

Even with all these advancements, women are still paid significantly less than men. In general, women are paid 78 cents to the dollar a man makes. Women are not represented in leadership at all levels of the workforce, and especially, as English found, in law firms. The report concludes that this is because of gender stereotypes, which Enlgish argued were a big reason why women lawyers were treated the way they were in different situations, whether it was regarding dress or communication styles or leadership styles.

The report alludes to the fact that women are seen as too emotional and not aggressive enough, however, as English found, if women tried to be strong and aggressive, they were not seen as effective leaders.

The report also speaks to the fact that law firms are not necessarily the best places for women to try to balance work and family lives. As we’ve seen in English’s study, if women seem to put too much focus on their family lives they are seen as not dedicated to their work. This goes against the idea of the “ideal lawyer” who is a workaholic and devotes their life to their work and lets nothing get in the way of it. The ideal lawyers have all the time in the world because they have no other commitments but work. They are able to work the 70-80 hour work weeks.

Both the report and English suggest similar ways in which women’s situations can be improved. They both suggest that women should be able to have flexible work schedules, be mentored, and not discriminate against employees who need to leave work for family.